The stubborn expectation of the human heart: witnesses from Itauna (Brazil), Aleppo (Syria), and Boston (USA)

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In the evolution of time and in the work of humankind, there is something, there is a phenomenon of something that is incorruptible, that cannot crumble away. Everyone speaks of it, and it is always new. The great Italian poet Leopardi called it the “Dominant Thought.” This phenomenon is much greater than the sign, the ephemeral aspect of reality, that brings it about. Something bigger. It is the thirst for beauty. It is the thirst for truth. It is the thirst for happiness. It is the heart! The dominant thought, according to the totality of its meaning, is what the Bible calls “heart”: man perceives within that he is destined for happiness, for truth, for beauty, for goodness, for justice. Everyone judges based on these things; everyone, even if superficially! But what is most impressive is that this phenomenon cannot be removed: it cannot be removed! Ultimately, it is something that cannot be removed! In the middle of society’s “great ruin” – to use Dante’s words – there is this impetuous, grandiose, powerful thing that raises itself. If this phenomenon dies, man dies of boredom.

~Fr. Luigi Giussani, notes from a talk on Giacomo Leopardi, Milan 1996

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